Here's Why 'The Santa Clauses' Star Eric Lloyd Took A Long Break From Acting

Eric Lloyd made a pretty big name for himself when he was just eight years old when he starred as Charlie, the son of Scott Calvin in The Santa Clause.

The former child star, who is now 36-years-old, also starred in the two sequel movies, and is back once again in Disney+’s The Santa Clauses.

Following the debut of The Santa Clause 3 in 2006, Eric seemed to disappear from public life, and fans are just finding out the reason why.

Click inside to find out why Eric stepped back from acting at that time…

Turns out, Eric didn’t actually retire from acting, he did have a few other projects in between 2011 and now, but actually just stepped back to focus on another of his passions – music.

“I’m not actively trying to go out and audition for roles,” he shared during a Reddit AMA in 2014. “I still do acting for different friends’ projects if they need it. I do sound and other jobs on sets all the time, and when I’m on there, they’ll put me in something that happens — like that ChromeSkull movie I did in 2011. I was working in a production office, and they couldn’t find someone for the role, and I was still SAG [Screen Actors Guild], so they were able to use me.”

In the same AMA, Eric said that he’d “love to act again and do something but I think I’m gonna make my own way in, starting through the music [and] my studio and things like that, putting myself into that.”

In The Santa Clauses, Eric‘s Charlie appears in the second episode and is married with two kids of his own.

EP Jason Winer explained to TV Line that Eric‘s role has a big purpose in Tim Allen‘s story arc.

“We certainly talked a lot about whether it should be Charlie who is the successor,” he shared. “Charlie just seemed like too good of an answer, and it’s too easy of a transition, [and] on a practical level, Eric Lloyd has retired as an actor.”

Jason added, “He has a whole other career and a whole other life, so we reached out to him and kind of convinced him to rejoin us and to make an appearance for this crucial, pivotal moment in the story.”

You can stream The Santa Clauses on Disney+ now.